Baking Bread (part three)

At the end of 60 to 90 minutes (60 for me), you should have dough that looks pretty close to what you see above (and thus ends the second rise). So what’s next?

Remember that hot cast iron pot in the oven? CAREFULLY remove the pot, uncover and ease the dough into the pot. It doesn’t hurt if the dough is not perfectly centered. Replace the lid and slide the pot back in the oven for one hour.

At the end of an hour CAREFULLY remove the lid and continue baking for 15 more minutes. From a baking standpoint, this is the most judgmental part. 15 minutes is a good estimate, but you need to start checking on it at around the 12 minute mark.

In this instance, this loaf stayed in about a minute too long for my taste (I got distracted).

Once you pull the pot out of the oven you should immediately remove the bread from the pot. You can use spoons, spatchulas or your hands if you are using oven mitts (which is what I do). Set the bread on a cooling rack for ONE HOUR. Yes, one hour. That’s actually the hardest part of baking bread — waiting the hour to eat it.

If you’ve stuck with me through parts one through three did you notice that there was something missing from this process that you should have expected? Think a minute. Where was the kneading? THERE IS NONE. Not with this technique. Sweet, huh?